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Experts’ Favorite Apps and Books for Learning Mindfulness Meditation
Portland Psychotherapy recently asked members of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science what they think are the best tools for learning about and practicing mindfulness meditation. Top experts from around the world chimed…
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Resources for self- and other-care in difficult times
Many of us have been impacted by the election results. Whether you are feeling shock, fear, anger, sadness, confusion, disbelief, or excitement, joy, satisfaction or hope, you are likely not alone. If you…
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Blue light at night is bad
We have known or suspected for quite some time that there are significant harmful health and environmental consequences associated with excessive light use at night, especially blue-rich light. Advances in technology and the…
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How Self-Compassion Helps with Anxiety
Anxiety can be a loud voice in your head telling you that something bad is going to happen. Your heart rate starts to quicken, your thoughts speed up, and you feel a knot…
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Getting Through Thanksgiving with Misophonia
This post is written for people with misophonia, a condition in which a person has an automatic, sometimes intensely unpleasant internal reaction to specific sounds. Sounds that lead to this reaction are typically…
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Fear of Fear Itself: Why Panic Isn’t Dangerous
Everyone has experienced intense fear at some point. Our hearts start racing when we realize we forgot to pick up the kids at school, our hands tremble and sweat as we struggle to…
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Misophonia: what the heck is it and what’s a trigger?
Misophonia is a condition in which a person has an automatic, unpleasant internal reaction to specific sounds. This reaction can vary from frustration to panic and even rage, and can be quite an…
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Top 5 Mindfulness Resources
The science of mindfulness is a very hot topic these days. In agreement with the research, we find mindfulness to be a very helpful skill to have that is effective for a variety…
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It’s Not Your Fault: How the Mind Copes with Abuse by Someone Close to you
If you have been hurt by someone close to you, it’s likely you are bothered by feelings of shame. Maybe you find that it is hard to stop beating yourself up over small…
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Portland, Oregon
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a specific type of psychotherapy that is different from traditional “talk therapy.” A few key differences are that CBT is research-based, more structured, and and more goal-directed than…
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How to Read Your Emotions Part II: Put on Your Spec’s
Reading your emotions is all about perspective. Perspective is just a place from which you are looking at something – it’s a point of view from which you observe things as they happen….
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How to Read Your Emotions Part I: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
Sometimes when you first start having a feeling, your brain will very quickly make up its mind that the emotion is somehow dangerous or bad. Then it tries to escape from the emotion…
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What Exactly is Insomnia? (and what you can do about it)
People can experience many difficulties with sleep throughout their lives. Some people are often told by their parents that even as small children they were never “good sleepers.” Some people experience issues with sleep…
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Helping People Grieve with Compassion
Comfort has its limits. One of the reasons it can be so difficult to approach someone who is suffering is that it can bring us face to face with our powerlessness to do…
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New Law in Oregon: Your Rights to Bereavement Leave
People who experience the loss of a loved one are often tasked with managing life insurance and legal issues, resolving financial paperwork, planning a funeral, and sorting through their loved one’s belongings. All…
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Why See A Health Psychologist?
When a person has significant issues with their health it can bring many challenges, more than just how it affects their body. Just like it is often helpful to see a physician who…
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Good Grief: Before asking how to get over your grief, ask whether you should.
Sometimes people aren’t very understanding of the pain of grief. They can even be downright insensitive at times. One of the common insensitive phrase I’ve heard in my work as someone who specializes…
